


Germinate

by NocturnalUnicorn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: (sort of), Alien Armitage Hux, Body Horror, Family Secrets, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kissing, Kylo Ren is Overdramatic, Kylux Cantina Fill, M/M, Making Out, Plant Aliens, Speciesism, Tags Contain Spoilers, The One Where Hux has Vines Growing out of His Back and Kylo Still Wants Him, this fic is weird, xeno!Hux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-07 23:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11068869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NocturnalUnicorn/pseuds/NocturnalUnicorn
Summary: Hux has locked himself away in his quarters. Kylo isn't sure why, but he suspects that the strange system that they are passing through may have something to do with it and is determined to find out.





	Germinate

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for the following prompt over at the Kylux Cantina: http://kyluxcantina.tumblr.com/post/161168730041/please-reblog-with-your-response-to-the-above

Hux was missing. It seemed that he had thought ahead before vanishing and left the Finalizer’s bridge under Mitaka’s command, but he was still missing, nonetheless. Granted, Kylo supposed that “missing” may not have been the right word- Hux was sequestered to his quarters and had made his location known to him via comm messages. However, the reason for Hux’s isolation was still unknown to Kylo. This lack of knowledge itched at the back of Kylo’s skull. Weren’t lovers supposed to be more open with one another?

Kylo decided to think back to any clues for a motive as he sulked back to his own quarters after the Beta Shift. Hux had begun to behave strangely and radiate an aura of unease not long after it was announced that the Finalizer would be passing the Liriona System. At Hux’s request, Kylo only touched Hux’s surface thoughts and strictly avoided delving into his head. This alone was normally enough to alert Kylo to what he needed to know about the General’s inner workings. After The Announcement, however, Hux’s surface thoughts had been little more of a confusing tangle of loose, nervous threads. Hux’s greatest secret, one that he had divulged only to Kylo, was his anxiety, and Kylo had always noticed that Hux scratched at his palms when he was under duress. The palm scratching had escalated just before his disappearance- so much so that Kylo had seen the faint scratches and scrapes on Hux’s bare hands when they were together.

Kylo was a merciless warlord, but he didn’t find himself to be lacking in compassion when it came to love and romance. He had tried to get to the source of Hux’s increased restlessness in the days prior to his isolation, but had no luck. In spite all of his gentle reassurance and slight prodding, the stubborn, stoic General had not budged.

Kylo passed a large, triangular viewport and stopped to have a look out of it. Bright, fiery Liriona Major and rocky, green Liriona 2b were floating in almost the exact center of his field of vision. The jungle colored clouds hovering over Liriona 2b’s surface undulated and gleamed in a way the reminded Kylo of some sort of ancient, beckoning lullaby. It was a shame that they were only passing through and not going planeside.

An idea dawned on Kylo: Hux’s disappearance had something to do with this strange, green world! He couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was about this remote planet that would make Hux shut himself off from the crew, but he at least had a direction to go in when asking him about it. Kylo turned on his heel and headed in the direction of Hux’s quarters.

 

\---

 

After knocking on the durasteel door three times and hearing no answer, Kylo opted to use the Force to bypass Hux’s security lock. The door opened with a hiss and revealed an empty, dark antechamber.

“Hux,” said Kylo, cupping his gloved hands around his mouth in order to be heard, “it’s Kylo. A word?”

There was no answer. Kylo could sense Hux’s presence, so he moved towards the General’s sleeping chamber and was met with yet another closed door. There was light coming from beneath it, and stranger still, long, spindly green vines emerged from under the crack. Kylo could sense a Force signature radiating from them unlike that of any plant that he had even encountered- their signature was distinctly sentient. Kylo found that there was no longer air in his lungs and forced himself to take in a deep, trembling breath. He reached for his belt and drew his lightsaber, activated it, and watched the scarlet blade buzz and crackle to life. The scent of ozone and molten metal filled the air as Kylo sliced a human sized hole in the door. He lept through, ready to face whatever was holding Hux hostage, but was instead met with an even stranger sight.

Hux, clad in only his breeches and undershirt, stood in front of his chamber’s massive viewport with his arm crossed over his narrow chest and a scowl on his red face. His eyes, normally blue-green, had taken on a yellow hue and the sclera had turned black. Green, seemingly prehensile vines were sprouting from Hux’s back, tearing through the fabric of his undershirt and snaking about the room in all directions.

Kylo deactivated his lightsaber. He heard it drop against the durasteel floor- he hadn’t even realized that he had let it go.

“I thought I told you that I didn’t wish to be disturbed,” said Hux, trying to add an icy edge to his voice.

“I was concerned,” said Kylo, growing bolder and walking towards Hux, “I am your lover, after all.”

“That may be,” replied Hux, “but there are things that I wish for no one to know but myself.”

Those words hit Kylo like a punch in the jaw. He was still undeterred and determined to figure out what was going on.

“I have a distinct feeling that Lirion 2b has something to do with this,” said Kylo, trying not to sound angry.

“No comment,” said Hux. As he spoke, the trailing vines began to wiggle about restlessly.

“I already know more than I should,” said Kylo, gesturing to the vines with a sharp motion.

Hux inhaled and balled his hands into fists. His vines fell to his feet and rested there, motionless, like so many green worms. Kylo could sense a conflict flowing from Hux’s every pore: either he would continue to keep his secret or let his love for Kylo win out and tell him the truth.

The air conditioning system rattled to life, bringing cold, recycled air through the vents on the ceiling. Kylo’s body had tensed so much that shivering in the cold hurt a bit. Hux’s vines retreated further, retracting until they grew just a foot or so off of his back. Kylo supposed that they didn’t like the cold.

“I forgot to cover that kriffing vent,” Hux said, his voice just climbing above a whisper.

“Liriona 2b is a warm planet, isn’t it?” said Kylo.

Hux sighed. “This doesn’t leave this room,” he said, walking towards Kylo.

“I can assure you that it won’t,” replied Kylo, “I’ve pledged my loyalty and my love to you. I couldn’t betray you like that. You have to believe me!”

Hux took off his gloves in a series of fidgeting motions, revealing his marble-white, scraped-up hands. Those hands shook as he reached out to touch Kylo’s face. He traced the valley of the scar across his nose bridge and cheek- a loving gesture usually reserved for the afterglow of more intimate activities. Kylo melted into the touch.

“Always so dramatic,” said Hux, “Soon, we will have to get a maintenance droid in here to fix that door.”

“You’re avoiding the question,” said Kylo, his lower lip trembling, “what in the name of the stars and all of the planets is so serious that you can’t tell me!?”

“Patience, I need a moment to collect myself,” said Hux.

Kylo reached around and pulled Hux closer. The vines brushed against his hands and arms. “Please,” he said. He found that he could say no more.

Hux was silent for a moment. He leaned against Kylo’s shoulder and pressed his lips against his prominent ear, tickling it with his breath. “I was a bastard,” he said, “my mother was a kitchen woman. A nonhuman.”

“From Liriona 2b?” asked Kylo.

“Yes, I’m half Liren,” said Hux, as if he were uttering the vilest curse in the galaxy. “My father tried to hide it by cutting off my vines, but they come back whenever I get close to, well, here. Even my eyes change color. Liriona B is a desolate world, so its people have adapted to the food scarcity by photosynthesizing.”

“Hux,” replied Kylo “we didn’t have to pass through here, you know.”

“We did. I did a good job of keeping it a secret, but there are still whispers. If anyone knew enough about Lirens, noticed me trying to avoid the system, and put two and two together, then my career would be over.”

Kylo pulled Hux tighter against him. The First Order’s stance on nonhumans had always seemed odd and hypocritical to him. After all, Snoke and several of the Knights of Ren were nonhuman. Nonetheless, speciesism hung over the First Order like a secondhand curtain left for them by the Empire. “You know I would kill anyone who tried to destroy you,” Kylo said with a dangerous snarl.

Hux pulled away from Kylo’s ear. He stared into his eyes with what looked like determination. “I know, but it’s too late to turn around. We’ll ride this out together,” said Hux.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Kylo.

“I didn’t want you to think that I was a monster,” replied Hux.

“Hux, you know I wouldn’t,” said Kylo, “You should have trusted me.”

“I should have,” said Hux, leaning in and shutting his eyes.

Kylo met him halfway and moaned when their lips touched. He moved one hand up Hux’s back and buried a hand in his copper hair. Hux’s hands also ended up in Kylo’s hair, and he pulled at the strands just enough to excite him as he opened his mouth and slip his tongue inside. Kylo responded enthusiastically. They kissed for a long while, moving closer and closer to one another as time passed. When they broke the kiss, Kylo noticed that the air conditioning was off and Hux’s vines were long again. At their tips, delicate, red flowers bloomed.

Hux raised a vine to stroke Kylo’s hand. It was soft and a bit warm. “That happens when a Liren senses that reproduction in imminent,” said Hux as he gestured to the blossoms.

“Kriff Hux, that means,” Kylo began, only to be cut off by a vine being pressed against his lips.

“I’m turned on,” said Hux, “I believe we should continue this discussion of my past later on. I feel that there are more pressing matters to attend to in the bedroom.”

Kylo couldn’t agree more.

“Show me what else those vines of yours can do.”

           

 


End file.
